Truth be told, I still don't really understand what happened today. It had the markings of a quintessential Bills loss in which they valiantly play up to their superior opposition and then lose anyway because reasons. Much like last weekend, in fact. It had those marking right up until the moment it, well, didn't. Instead of a late crushing blow in the form of an Aaron Rodgers two-minute drill, we were treated to a definitive seal in the form of a Nickell Robey safety. I'm sure football minds far greater than mine will be able to give you all the things that went differently today and contributed to the win, but it mostly just seemed that the team played pretty well instead of pretty shitty. Go figure.

We are left, then, holding this waning train of optimism together with our bare hands and the adrenaline we feel when we see Boobie Dixon smile, but together the train remains. Week 16 - SIXTEEN!!!! - is in one week and we have something that Bills teams have rarely give us for the past 15 years, at least after Thanksgiving.

We can wring our hands if we must, individually. No one would be wrong to say that the simple fact that this kind of late season hope is big news is entirely too depressing. No one would be wrong to say that the Bills still have such a small chance of making the playoffs (I've seen between 2% and %5 on fancy stat sites), or that we can't really celebrate being in a position where playoff qualification would require winning out and generous assistance from the Ravens and/or Steelers and/or Chiefs and/or December's illest birthday boy, Sweet Baby Jesus.

And, perhaps most depressing of all - if for no reason other than the altogether legitimate fear that the Bills might not sniff the playoffs like this again for about five years - no one would be wrong to get heated over the fact that there are at least three games, and as many as five, that the Bills should have won but instead opted to punt on crucial 4th downs, played conservative in the red zone and settled for field goals or failed to stick with running the ball despite the inescapable truth of how awful the Bills depth chart is at the quarterback position. Or all of the above.

Points were left on the field and that may haunt fans and players alike for a while, but it doesn't change where we are.

And that's the thing. Sure, we want a winner. All fans do. We want it so bad we can taste it. We know we probably aren't getting one this year or even anytime soon, yet we keep coming back. It doesn't make us suckers, though. Fuck that. It's a gift. It's a quantifiable and identifiable good in and of itself. It's a thing that connects us not just to each other as fans united in voice, but to that part of us that wants to dream big despite ourselves. The part that just wants a couple more weeks where nothing matters apart from the three and a half hours we let this team try to justify those big dreams; to justify our love and devotion after weeks of our own feelings of cynicism and rage at this Bills season.

This team has given us the opportunity to cheer for a miracle. I'm going to fucking enjoy it. I hope we all can.

... And now, because it just popped into my head and I think it's both hilarious and appropriate and whatthefuckever. This movie rules. Go Bills. barrister